chatterton



RICHARDV D. CHATTERTON, OF BATH, ENGLAND.

Letters Patent No. 62.723,'0Zate0l .March 5, 1867. l

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ro ALL WHoM rr MAYcoNcERN;

Beit known that I, R101-MRD D. CHATTERTON, of Bath, in the county ofSomerset, and United Kingdom of .Great Britain and Ireland, haveinvented a newand improved Mode of Propelling Vessels; and I do herebydeclare thc following to be a full, clear-,and exact description of thesame, suihcient to enable one skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains to make use of it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings forming ya part of this specitication, and in whichl I Figure 1is a longitudinal vertical section.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section.

A pipe or pipes being laid longitudinally through the vessel, below thewater line, a steam pump is employed in connection with each to admitthe water forward and discharge it aftA Valves are arranged to restrainthe flow of water to the desired direction. Forward and abaft each pumparey two sets of valves, opening in different directions, one or theother being brought into use according to 4the desired direction ofmotion, forward or estern. AThe reversal is performed by simultaneousshifting of the valves, the motion of-the 'pump being centinuous, andthe water being discharged in the wake of the vessel. Each pipe' is thusprovided with four valved diaphragms, the valves of two opening forwardand those 0f the other two aft. The reversal of the direction ofvmotionnecessitates the simultaneous motion of all. The respective valves of agiven pair are connected by `racks and pinion soas to move in contrarydirections, yand the respective pairs are connected by racks and a.spurlwheel, so as to make the operation of'reversal simultaneous forwardand abaft the pump.'

.In'the drawings, A A are pipe-s laid longitudinally of the vessel,below the waterline, and as ,they are counterparts, shall describe onealone, merely stating, first, they may discharge alternately, so as tomake the'discharge practically continuous; second, they muy be worked incontrary directions, so as to turnthe vessel-g third, one or more may beused at discretion. Communicating witlrthe interior of tubeI A 'isf apump-chamber, B, in which reciprocates a plunger, C, worked bya steamengine, l), which, having no particular point-sof novelty, I do notdesire otherwise to describe than that it has a direct action. Thevessel is supposed to be moving in the direction `.of the arrow, fig. 1,which may be considered as the forward direction. The diaphragm Gr isdown, and has self-acting valves, g g, which open Vtowards theVrear,vandV admit water to low :aft through the forward portion of thetube so as tosupply'the pump-chamber on the upward-stroke of the plungerC, the4 water on the rear portion of the pipe A being prevented fromcoming forward, as the valves in the rliaphragmG do not open in thatdirection, so that the water only comes in from the front asltlie4pluger rises.' When the plunger C descends, the valves in diaphragm Gare closed. against its passage forward, und ythe valves in diaphragm Gopen and admitits passage aft. As the pressure in the pipe A meets withvthe resistance of the diaphragm G the vessel is urgedforward,l thewater escaping aft to the extent of the displacement of the plunger C,on the familiar principle knownas reaction, and demonstrated in' theturbine water-wheel and other mechanical devices.

The operation in brief may`be described as follows: In the downwardstroke of the piston, the self-acting valves in the diaphragm Gr close,thc press/ure against them within being -theu greater than from without,and the ship'7 with its tube yA, and column of water" therein, is urgedforward with a force proportionate to said pressure, said pressure beingsimultaneously and equallycxertbd against the column of watchin tube A,abaft the diaphragm G, which was previously travelling with the ship.',lhe up-stroke of the piston is e'ected by pressure of the water fromthe bow (through the forward portion of tube A) opening the valves toadmit the requisite fresh supply for the pump-cylinder, and no adversecurrent is created, as the direction 'of 'the water is from the bow aft,or atleast from that end ofthe vessel which is in the advance at thcyparticular time. Again, the cumulative forceofthe descendingpiston isexerted upon the column of water in the rear portion, for the timebeing, of tube A, which, in 'the character of an eddy, is owing withamomentum equal to that of vthe ship," and not., as with the paddle orscrew, upon the outside water, which, relatively to the ship, is passingaft connects by a rack and pinion with the rack of the valved diaphragmH-,se

constantly. The diaphragm? that as the former is raised t 1e latter islowered; the same is true of the valved diaphragmsG H', and theseduplicate sets are moved by the rotation of the shaft I, which rotatesthe wheel J, and elevates and depresses respectively the racks K K',according to the direction in which it is turned. When the valveddiaphragme H H are lowered, G G' live iuised, and the Iwat-e1' flows inthe othei' ('irection, :is the plunger 'reciprocates in its chamber,having,l the effect of driving the vessel` asterix, the reversal beingma-fle by a eiuiple -motion of the crank by the oicer oudeek. Thereversal may he effected either byv elevating rods attached to' thediaphgrams and moved cog-wheels, as shown inthe drawings, by chains andpulleys, or equivaient devices.

Having` described my invention, what I claim therein as`new, eind desireto secure by Letters Patent, isl. The mmngeme'ntiof the vnlveddinphragms G G', in the tube Aconstructed as des-rihed, and operaltedsimultaneously by ineens of a. connecting. device of reak and wheel,ol'uequivaleut, for the purpose specified. I

2. The arrangement o' th valves Gr' G', H H', the racks and pinions, andtirev reversing apparatus J K, /f/ or equivalent device, as set forth. 5

/ 3. I claim the combination, 4with the longitudinal tube A,.of thedirect-action engine, and pump acting between velved diaphrng'ms,connected for'simultaneeus adjustment and reversal, Substantially asdeseitibefl.

' R. D. CllATTERTON.

Witnesses: l

SOION C. KEMON, GEO. W. R'o'iuwmtn.

. WML..

